A reconfigurable bipedal robot with multiple motion modes

Abstract

The present invention discloses a reconfigurable bipedal robot with multiple motion modes. The bipedal robot has a left-right symmetric structure and includes a torso component, a left hip, a right hip, a left leg, and a right leg. The torso component is rotatably connected to the left hip and the right hip symmetrically arranged on both sides of the torso component. The left leg and the right leg are respectively rotatably connected to the left hip and the right hip. The left leg includes a thigh component, a calf component, a flexible shock-absorbing component, a foot sole component, a toe component, a balance link component, a driving wheel component, and a driven wheel component. The left hip and the right hip have the same structure, and the left leg and the right leg have the same structure. By changing the driving joints and the configuration of the robot, the switching of the motion modes of the bipedal robot is realized, and the efficient driving of the legged robot under different scenarios and different functional requirements is achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of legged robots, and in particular to a reconfigurable bipedal robot with multiple motion modes. Background Art

[0002] Compared with wheeled robots, legged robots have significant advantages in terms of terrain adaptability and can perform actions such as going up and down stairs, crossing ditches, and avoiding obstacles. Therefore, in scenarios such as field exploration, post-disaster rescue, and material transportation, legged robots have great potential application prospects. However, wheeled robots have greater advantages in terms of energy utilization efficiency and speed. How to combine the advantages of the two types of robots to design a reconfigurable bipedal robot with good terrain adaptability, high speed, and high energy utilization efficiency has become a hot research direction for current bipedal robots. Summary of the Invention

[0003] Aiming at the problems of low speed and low energy utilization efficiency of existing bipedal robots, the present invention proposes a reconfigurable bipedal robot with multiple motion modes.

[0004] The object of the present invention is achieved by the following technical solutions:

[0005] A reconfigurable bipedal robot with multiple motion modes, the bipedal robot has a left-right symmetric structure, and includes a torso component, a left hip, a right hip, a left leg, and a right leg. The torso component is rotatably connected to the left hip and the right hip symmetrically arranged on both sides of the torso component. The left leg and the right leg are respectively rotatably connected to the left hip and the right hip.

[0006] The left leg includes a thigh component, a calf component, a flexible shock-absorbing component, a foot sole component, a toe component, a balance link component, a driving wheel component, and a driven wheel component.

[0007] One end of the thigh component is connected to the left hip through a revolute pair, and the other end is connected to one end of the calf component through a revolute pair. The other end of the calf component is connected to the middle of the foot sole component through a revolute pair. One end of the foot sole component is connected to the middle of the toe component through a revolute pair, and the other end is connected to one end of the balance link component through a revolute pair. The driving wheel component is connected to the other end of the balance link component through a revolute pair, and the driven wheel component is connected to one end of the toe component through a revolute pair.

[0008] The flexible shock-absorbing component is connected between the thigh component and the foot sole component.

[0009] The left hip and the right hip have the same structure, and the left leg and the right leg have the same structure.

[0010] By adjusting the driving joints of the biped robot, when the toe component touches the ground and the driving wheel component and the driven wheel component leave the ground, it is in the biped motion mode; when the driving wheel component and the driven wheel component touch the ground and the toe component leaves the ground, it is in the wheeled motion mode.

[0011] Further, the flexible shock-absorbing component includes a thigh upper-end link component, an elastic component, and a sole link component that are connected in sequence.

[0012] Further, the biped robot further includes a toe lower-end link component and a toe upper-end link component. One end of the toe lower-end link component is connected to the other end of the toe component through a revolute pair, and one end of the toe upper-end link component is connected to the sole component through a revolute pair. The other end of the toe lower-end link component and the other end of the toe upper-end link component are connected through a revolute pair, thereby forming a linkage mechanism for adjusting the driven wheel component.

[0013] Further, the left hip includes a hip vertical rotating rod member, a hip horizontal rotating component, and a hip fixing component. The trunk component is connected to the hip vertical rotating rod member through a revolute pair, the hip vertical rotating rod member is connected to the hip horizontal rotating component through a revolute pair, the hip fixing component is rigidly connected to the hip horizontal rotating component, and the trunk component realizes roll and deflection through the hip vertical rotating rod member and the hip horizontal rotating component.

[0014] The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows:

[0015] The biped robot designed by the present invention can select the wheeled or legged motion mode according to the external situation, improve the adaptability and speed of the robot to the terrain, combine the advantages of the biped robot and the wheeled robot, and has strong environmental adaptability and high working efficiency. Description of the Drawings

[0016] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the legged motion mode of the biped robot;

[0017] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the wheeled motion mode of the biped robot;

[0018] Figure 3 is a simplified diagram of the leg mechanism of the biped robot;

[0019] In the figure, there are a torso component 1, a hip vertical rotating rod 2, a hip horizontal rotating component 3, a hip fixing component 4, a thigh component 5, a calf component 6, an upper thigh link component 7, a flexible component 8, a lower thigh link component 9, a foot sole component 10, a toe component 11, a balance link component 12, a lower toe link component 13, an upper toe link component 14, a driving wheel component 15, and a driven wheel component 16. Detailed implementation mode

[0020] The present invention will be described in detail below according to the accompanying drawings and preferred embodiments. The purpose and effect of the present invention will become more apparent. The present invention will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention and are not used to limit the present invention.

[0021] As Figure 1 shown, the reconfigurable biped robot with multiple motion modes of the present invention includes a torso component 1, a hip vertical rotating rod 2, a hip horizontal rotating component 3, a hip fixing component 4, a thigh component 5, a calf component 6, an upper thigh link component 7, a flexible component 8, a lower thigh link component 9, a foot sole component 10, a toe component 11, a balance link component 12, a lower toe link component 13, an upper toe link component 14, a driving wheel component 15, and a driven wheel component 16.

[0022] As Figures 1 to 3 shown, the hip vertical rotating rod 2 is respectively connected to the torso component 1 and the hip horizontal rotating component 3 through rotating pairs with perpendicular axes to form a universal joint hinge, providing the biped robot with degrees of freedom to rotate around the z-axis and the y-axis. ， By driving the universal joint hinge, the hip fixing component 4 can be appropriately rotated relative to the torso component 1 around the z-axis and the y-axis. The hip fixing component 4 is fixed to the hip horizontal rotating component 3 and is connected to the thigh component 5 through a rotating pair, providing the biped robot with a degree of freedom to rotate around the x-axis. By driving this rotating pair, the thigh component 5 can be appropriately rotated relative to the torso component 1 around the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis. Without being limited to this connection method, connecting the torso component 1 and the thigh component 5 through a spherical pair will also have the same beneficial effect.

[0023] The thigh component 5, the calf component 6, the upper thigh link component 7, the lower thigh link component 9, and the foot component 10 are all connected to each other through revolute pairs, and both ends of the flexible component 8 are fixedly connected to the upper thigh link component 7 and the lower thigh link component 9 respectively, so that these six rods form a planar multi-link mechanism with flexibility. This planar multi-link mechanism can not only improve the structural stiffness of the biped robot, but also, by introducing the flexible component, reduce the impact force between the end of the biped robot and the ground, and can store a certain amount of energy, playing the role of vibration reduction and improving energy utilization efficiency. By driving the revolute joints between the hip fixing component 4 and the thigh component 5, and between the thigh component 5 and the calf component 6, the walking task of the biped robot can be achieved, specifically as Figure 3 shown. Not limited to this connection method, using a flexible rod Directly to connect the thigh component 5 and the foot component 10 can also achieve the same gain effect.

[0024] By appropriately driving the drive joints of the biped robot, the switching between the biped motion mode and the wheeled motion mode of the biped robot can be achieved. Both ends of the balance link component 12 are connected to the foot component 10 and the driving wheel component 15 respectively through revolute pairs. In the biped motion mode, the static balance and dynamic balance of the robot can be achieved by actively controlling the swing angle, speed, and acceleration of the balance link component 12 and the rotation speed of the driving wheel component 15; in the wheeled motion mode, functions such as shock absorption and obstacle avoidance can be achieved by actively controlling the balance link component 12.

[0025] The foot component 10, the toe component 11, the lower toe link component 13, and the upper toe link component 14 are all connected to each other through revolute pairs, thus forming a planar four-bar mechanism, and the other end of the toe component 11 is connected to the driven wheel component 16 through a revolute pair, enabling the driven wheel component 16 to rotate freely. As Figure 3 shown, in the biped motion mode, through this planar four-bar mechanism, the drive of the toe component 11 can be lifted, and while meeting the adaptability of the biped robot to different terrains, the rotational inertia of the biped robot can be reduced and its motion performance can be improved; in the wheeled motion mode, the position of the driven wheel component 16 can be adjusted by the motion of this four-bar mechanism, so that the driven wheel component 16 can better cooperate with the driving wheel component 15 in motion, further improving the motion performance of the biped robot in the wheeled motion mode.

[0026] The present invention adopts a wheel-leg hybrid structure. In the bipedal walking state, the introduced flexible components can reduce impacts and store energy. Through the multi-link mechanism formed by the thigh component, calf component, flexible shock absorber and sole component, the body stiffness of the bipedal robot is increased, and the walking stability is improved. By utilizing the swing of the balance link component and the rotation of the driving wheel component, active balance of the bipedal robot in the bipedal walking state is achieved. Through the sole component and toe component, active adaptability of the bipedal robot to different terrains is realized. By adjusting the leg mechanism of the bipedal robot, switching between the legged and wheeled motion modes is achieved. In the wheeled motion mode, by adjusting the balance link component and toe component, active shock absorption of the driving wheel component and driven wheel component for the terrain is realized.

[0027] Those of ordinary skill in the art can understand that the above are only preferred examples of the invention and are not used to limit the invention. Although the invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing examples, for those skilled in the art, they can still modify the technical solutions described in the foregoing examples, or perform equivalent replacements for some of the technical features. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the invention shall be included in the protection scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A reconfigurable bipedal robot with multiple motion modes, characterized in that, the bipedal robot has a left-right symmetric structure, which includes a trunk component, a left hip, a right hip, a left leg and a right leg. The trunk component is rotatably connected to the left hip and the right hip symmetrically arranged on both sides of the trunk component, and the left leg and the right leg are respectively rotatably connected to the left hip and the right hip; the left leg includes a thigh component, a calf component, a flexible shock-absorbing component, a foot sole component, a toe component, a balance link component, a driving wheel component and a driven wheel component; one end of the thigh component is connected to the left hip through a revolute pair, and the other end is connected to one end of the calf component through a revolute pair. The other end of the calf component is connected to the middle of the foot sole component through a revolute pair. One end of the foot sole component is connected to the middle of the toe component through a revolute pair, and the other end is connected to one end of the balance link component through a revolute pair. The driving wheel component is connected to the other end of the balance link component through a revolute pair, and the driven wheel component is connected to one end of the toe component through a revolute pair; the flexible shock-absorbing component is connected between the thigh component and the foot sole component; the left hip and the right hip have the same structure, and the left leg and the right leg have the same structure; by adjusting the driving joints of the bipedal robot, when the toe component touches the ground and the driving wheel component and the driven wheel component leave the ground, it is a bipedal motion mode; when the driving wheel component and the driven wheel component touch the ground and the toe component leaves the ground, it is a wheeled motion mode; the flexible shock-absorbing component includes a thigh upper link component, an elastic component and a foot sole link component connected in sequence; the bipedal robot further includes a toe lower link component and a toe upper link component. One end of the toe lower link component is connected to the other end of the toe component through a revolute pair, and one end of the toe upper link component is connected to the connection of the foot sole component through a revolute pair. The other end of the toe lower link component and the other end of the toe upper link component are connected through a revolute pair, thereby forming a link mechanism for adjusting the driven wheel component.

2. The reconfigurable bipedal robot with multiple motion modes according to claim 1, characterized in that, the left hip includes a hip vertical rotating rod member, a hip horizontal rotating component and a hip fixing component. The trunk component is connected to the hip vertical rotating rod member through a revolute pair. The hip vertical rotating rod member is connected to the hip horizontal rotating component through a revolute pair. The hip fixing component is rigidly connected to the hip horizontal rotating component. The trunk component realizes roll and deflection through the hip vertical rotating rod member and the hip horizontal rotating component.

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